Carriage-door hinge



(No Model.) E. L. HOFFMAN'N.

GA -RRIAGYEDOOR HINGE.

N0..5'77,983. Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

; l *W"*M- W A WITNESSESI WWW INVENTOR ATTORNEYS;

UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD L. HOFFMANN, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

CARRIAGE-DOOR HINGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 577,983, dated March2, 1897.

Application filed October 19, 1896.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. HOFFMANN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Hinges for Carriage-Doors, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to that class of hinges forcoach-doors in which the member of the hinge attached to the door isprovided with an angular or elbow-shaped arm which passes through a slotin the fixed member of the hinge and which is pivoted to a bracket ofthe fixed member.

The object of my invention is to provide such hinges with a simple stopdevice which reliably limits the opening movement of the door andwhich'is not liable to break or get out of order.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a horizontal section of acoach-door provided with my improved hinge, showing the door closed.Fig. 2 is a similar section showing the door open. Fig. 3 is a detachedperspective view of the hinge.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

A A represent the usual upright pillars of a carriage-body, which formthe sides of the door-opening, and B is the door. 0 is the attaching orbase plate of the fixed hinge member, which is secured to the inner faceof the pillar A, and cl is the bracket project ing from the rear sidethereof and carrying the usual upright pivot or pintle cl, the pillarbeing recessed in the usual manner to receive this bracket. E is thebase-plate of the mo vable hinge member, secured to the coach-door, andF the angular arm project-ing horizontally from the face of saidbase-plate. This arm extends through a horizontal slot d formed in thebase-plate O of the fixed hinge member, and is provided at its outer endwith the usual eye f, which receives the pivot or pintle d. g is theusual uprightweb or abutment extending upwardly from the outer edge ofthe bracket d. All of these parts are of the usual and well-knownconstruction and form no part of my invention.

H is an elastic stop which limits the open- 1ng movement of thecoach-door, so as to prevent the same from swinging against the rearSerial No. 609,260. (No model.)

wheel on the same side of the coach. This stop preferably consists of anapproximately U-shaped spring of flat steel, which extends around theeye of the arm F and. has its inner rear branch secured to the rear sideof said arm by screws h or other suitable means, while its front branch72. is free, so as to form a spring tongue. This spring-tongue is soarranged that in opening the door the tongue comes in contact with theinner side of the abutment g before the door reaches a position in whichits outer side comes in contact with the rear wheel, as shown in Figs. 2and 8, thereby preventing marring of the door. The door is usuallyprovided with two hinges, and the stop-springs are made so stiff thattheir combined resistance is suificient to arrest the opening movementof the door before the angular arm F reaches the abutment g, therebyavoiding the straining or springing of the door, which is liable tooccur when the angular arm strikes against said abutment. As the stop-iselastic or yielding, it forms a cushion, which prevents all jarring orstraining of the door, and the cracking of the paint or enamel on thedoor, liable to result from the concussion of the parts of the hinge, istherefore obviated. Myim proved stop-spring dispenses with the usualstop-strap and overcomes the disadvantages resulting from the stretchingof such straps, and as the spring is applied to the inner portion of theangular arm of the hinge it is hidden from View, thus forming a moresightly construction. When the door is closed, the spring-tongue recedesfrom the abutment g, as shown in Fig. 1.

By securing the stop-spring to the rear side of the angular arm andextending it loosely around the eye of said arm, as shown, fiexion ofthe spring takes place from its point of attachment to its free end,thus rendering the same very elastic.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination with a fixed hinge member orleaf having a transverse slot and a bracket projecting rearwardly fromsaid leaf, of a movable hinge member or leaf having an angular armextending through the slot of the fixed member and pivoted at its innerend to said bracket and a stop-spring carried by the inner portion ofsaid angular arm and arranged on the front side thereof, said springbeing arranged to come in contact With said fixed leaf in the openposition of the hinge, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a fixed hinge member or leaf provided with atransverse slot, a bracket projecting rearwardly from said leaf andcarrying an upright pintle and a Web or abutment arranged at the outeredge of said slot, of a movable hinge member or leaf having an angulararm extending through the slot of said fixed leaf an d provided at itsinner end with an eye journaled on said pintle and a U shaped springextending around the eye

